1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an edge garnish molding assembly for a door or the like movable closure receiving opening in an automotive vehicle and more particularly to the kind wherein an edge garnish molding is integrally formed with a weatherstrip for sealing between the movable closure and the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 2 shows a prior art edge garnish molding assembly 10 which is adapted for use with a rear door 12 (see FIG. 1) of an automotive vehicle. As illustrated, the assembly 10 broadly comprises a vehicle body structure 14 having an upwardly flanged edge 15 defining at the upper end thereof a rear door receiving opening 16 (see FIG. 1), and an edge garnish molding 18 which is installed on the upwardly flanged edge 15 and generally called a rear door weatherstrip. The upwardly flanged edge 15 of the vehicle body structure 14 is partly formed from a rear end outer panel 22 including an upright flange portion 22a and a shoulder portion 22b arranged at the bottom of the flange portion 22a and in predetermined angular relationship therewith, and a rear end inner panel 20 including an upright flange portion 20a spot-welded to the flange portion 22a of the rear end outer panel 22. The edge garnish molding 18 includes a synthetic resinous, resilient garnish portion 24 fitted on the flange portions 20a and 22a of the rear end inner and outer panels 20 and 22 for safety as well as for aesthetic purposes. The garnish portion 24 is of an inverted U-shaped section and includes a pair of legs 24a and 24b which are arranged on the respective sides of the flange portions 20a and 22a, i.e., arranged inside 26 and outside 28 of the vehicle body, respectively. The garnish portion 24 also has a plurality of resilient fingers 24c protruding inwardly from the inside walls of the legs 24a and 24b. When the edge garnish molding 18 is installed, the fingers 24c firmly hold therebetween the flange portions 20a and 22a to retain the garnish portion 24 and therefore the edge garnish molding 18 in place on the flange portions 20a and 22a. The edge garnish molding 18 also includes a first weatherstrip portion 30 for providing a seal between the rear door 12 and the garnish portion 24, and a second weatherstrip portion 32 for providing a seal between the garnish portion 24 and the vehicle body structure 14. The first and second weatherstrip portions 30 and 32 are made of rubber and integrally formed with the garnish portion 24 by the common extrusion. The first weatherstrip 30 is hollow and protrudes upwardly from the juncture between the legs 24a and 24b, while the second weatherstrip 32 protrudes outwardly and slightly downwardly from the lower end of the outside leg of the garnish portion 24 to terminate at an end where it resiliently engages the rear end outer panel shoulder portion 22b forming a predetermined angle with the flange portion 22a.
The prior art edge garnish molding assembly of the type described above has the disadvantage that it cannot provide an assured and complete seal between the movable closure and the vehicle body structure, that is, the assembly has the possibility of allowing ingress of water such as rain or car washing water, following the path indicated by the arrows in the drawing, into the luggage compartment closed by the rear door 12 or into the space between the rear end inner and outer panels 20 and 22 to wet or rust them.
It is revealed by the experiments conducted by the applicants that such ingress of water results from the fact that upon the spot welding, flange portions 20a and 22a are formed with detents or depressions which tend to cause gaps between the fingers 24c and the flange portions 20a and 22a, and also from the fact that the garnish portion 24 is in part installed in inclined relationship with the flange portions 20a and 22a, tending to cause gaps between the second weatherstrip portion 32 and the rear end outer panel 22. Water thus has access through the above described gaps to a chamber 34 which is formed within the garnish portion 24 to receive therein the upper ends of the flange portions 20a and 22a and then collected at the lowest part of the chamber 34 to flow over the flange portions 20a and 22a.
In order to prevent such ingress of water, it is known, as shown in FIG. 3, to fill the chamber 34 throughout the length thereof with butyl rubber 36 and install the edge garnish molding 18 in such a manner that the upper ends of the flange portions 20a and 22a are forced into the layer of butyl rubber 36. This, however, results in an increased manufacturing and assemblying cost due to the need for the flange portions 20a and 22a to be forced into the layer of butyl rubber resulting in difficult assembly work as well as the need of costly filling of butyl rubber 36.